


New Light

by goldyato



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Future, End of the World, Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Established Relationship, I Tried, Manhattan, Motorcycles, Multi, New York City, Resistance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 19:45:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15713853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldyato/pseuds/goldyato
Summary: The results of the Quintessence Disaster of 2022 are still unfolding into what can be described as pure, unpredictable, blinding chaos. Among the rubble of what was once an organized society remain the fragments of a power-hungry government looking to take whatever control over the remaining population they can with whatever violent tactics they need to use, foreign species making their refuge within Earth's broken atmosphere, and...a resistance. Leandro didn't imagine the end of the world to look like this, but now fighting for freedom is all he can imagine. At least he and his boyfriend don't have to pay for rent.





	New Light

**Author's Note:**

> i've never done a project like this so i'm basically just testing the waters? this is a leakira fic based within the reboot au universe created by captainlumin and kciths. check it out on twitter if you want more info! it's a super fun au set 10 years in the future featuring characters Leandro and Akira who happen to be in love and kicking ass at the same time - this is in no way my creation - just my interpretation in a fic and I'm open to anyone else's suggestions and ideas!

i.

Leandro had always tried to imagine the end of the world - it looked like he’d seen in rated R movies watched late in the summer nights of 2016 with his siblings. He was 8 and bundled up in blankets on the couch, his sister-turned-babysitter Valeria asleep next to him and the rest of his siblings scattered across the living room rug. None of them should’ve been up that late watching the undead tear into the flesh of actors Leo can’t remember the names of anymore, but they did and now he had a clear visual of what the apocalypse would look like. What it should look like, if the Disaster of ‘22 didn’t strike to turn the world into a bright, futuristic mess that Akira likes to call “a gamer’s sex fantasy, minus the breasts, and with more guns.”

The vision he had of the apocalypse definitely didn’t look like a fucking pinball arcade game, and he didn’t imagine his 20-year-old self decked out in neon gear with shiny dual handguns and a glowing bike that he knows his mother would never approve of him riding. Akira thinks it’s cool, at least.

The boyfriend was a surprise too. But when the quintessence explosion took over half the planet and the government fell apart trying to control it, Leo stopped taking time to be shocked over events he didn’t ever think could happen (but did). And when alien species - enemies, allies, and refugees alike - started arriving from planets he didn’t even know existed and the rest of the world fell to the chaos, he wondered if he’d ever be shocked again. 

It wasn’t likely. But he was kind of disappointed that he didn’t get to shoot zombies in the head. At least the resistance was good enough motive for him to keep fighting among the apocalyptic mess that is the Earth.

<<<>>>

“Babe, I’m serious. I don’t want you put in a compromising position because of this. The knife stays home.”

Akira’s eyes bore into Leandro, his frustration huffed out through his nostrils. 

“They won’t know I have it. You know I’m not going in there unprotected. It’s done nothing but help us in the past.”

Leandro stepped forward on the kitchen tile to put his hands on Akira’s arms, rough palms meeting the suede material of the shorter man’s jacket that Leo knew wouldn’t be able to hide the large dagger that Kira insisted he bring to the assembly.

“This time is different. And I know you want to be safe. But that’s why Dante setup the identification devices. You know he’s making absolutely sure no infiltrators are even getting close to making their way in. We don’t even know for sure if they know we’re doing this. That’s a quintessence blade, Akira.”

Leandro gets the violet eye roll for the tenth time this morning. “Just in case. I’m not risking it. You know what happened last time.”

Leandro did know, because it nearly cost one of the rebellion leaders his life. One of the higher-ups had been feeding information to the disassembled, fascist-consumed remains of the government they once had. Not only had over a dozen lives been taken, but Hiro was still getting used to the prosthetic arm he lost the last time they tried to get all parts of the rebellion across the nation together. But a year later, and Leo was sure they’d worked all of the kinks out this time. But he knew he wasn’t winning this argument against his boyfriend. Kira played the family card and that meant the dagger was joining them in secret at the meeting that was supposed to be weapons-free in regards to taking every precaution. Dante and Hiro had made it clear that they were trying to show the resistance that peace is the main goal. 

“We don’t need weapons. What we need is unity and a plan.”

Leo sighs, making the conscious decision to not overthink this more than he already has, and lets go of Akira’s tense arms. His boyfriend’s dark eyes lighten up a bit (asshole) when they see the defeated expression on Leandro’s face.

“Alright. But when everyone thinks you’re a threat because you bring a quintessence dagger where it isn’t supposed to be...I don’t know you.”

“You’re the most supportive soulmate a guy could ask for,” Akira bites sarcastically and smiles lightly at his lover before sliding the covered blade into an inside pocket of his coat, satisfied. He reaches to pull on Leandro’s out-of-place collar to fix it before patting his shoulder. “But I’ve got this. It’s just to be careful. This is a rebellion, not a dinner party.”

“I guess it’s better than nothing. I just don’t want to go against what Hiro says...since he was the one most affected by the ambush on us last meeting.” Leo glances towards the dated marble countertop to his left, upon which a framed photo of Akira’s family sits. Hiroshi’s smile looks more strained now than it used to. Only Akira and Dante knew the full extent to which he had changed over the course of the war. It was heavy.

Akira follows Leo’s gaze, sighing. “I lived with him for a decade and we once had an argument over whether mac and cheese is a proper dinner. I will never feel bad going against his words.”

Leandro’s lost in thought again, knowing that everything’s gonna be fine but finding it hard to ignore the itch in his neck that puts a bad scene in his head. He doesn’t want Akira to pay for trying to be safe. This doesn’t have to be as big a deal as it could be if a citizen were to see him carrying around a quintessence-married blade.

Many people had tried to put the war on the back burner - despite how unsettlingly commonplace it had become to hear gunshots a block over - because it was just a facet of the society at this point. Most people were trying to live normal lives among the war between the rebels and the Adding a quintessence weapon into the equation doesn’t exactly sweeten the deal for anyone - they were close to being banned almost twenty times over the past couple years, with a life sentence in the balance. As if deadly weapons were the biggest thing to worry about when the world had changed more in the past seven years than it had in the past century.

“Hey,” Akira breathes, bringing his hand to Leandro’s chin to catch his focus. “It’s gonna be fine. You know I’ll be careful. It’s just a precaution.”

Leo nods, his eyes flitting from the pocket holding the dagger to the dark eyes that lock onto his.

“I know. Maybe I’m just anxious because I didn’t sleep well.”

Leo knows he can trust Akira - the man could kick mutant alien ass if he needed to. And if he does need to, he won’t be alone.

Akira nods his head towards the front door of their apartment, his dark hair swinging from the loose hair tie as he does. “Let’s go. I’ll help you make dinner tonight.”

Days like this are uncommon. Leo wishes he could have more of them - days where they can make a promise to eat a good dinner because they finally get a break. Oftentimes their days are spent speeding down the freeway on Akira’s bike on the ass of some alien species who infiltrated the next city over. Members of the rebellion tend to take matters into their own hands despite the risks, and Akira and Leandro - partners in crime as they are - end up heading the missions that leave thoughts of a normal week behind.

One of Akira’s biggest wonders of what life would be like without the aftermath of the Disaster of 2022 are about date nights - what he and Leo’s evenings would look like if they weren’t kicking ass and then patching each other up in the bathroom before eating ramen on the floor of the living room. They’re both aware they’ll never know, but flying through the city together on Akira’s bike is enough for them.

War is all their relationship has ever known; a normal life seems as though it would be too boring for them.

<<<>>>

“It’s almost 07:00. What time did Dante say to get there?” Leo’s goggles clink against Akira’s as he leans over his shoulder to shout over the hum of the motorbike and the buzz of the neon city. 

Manhattan had become a hub for blinding lights and color, a neon explosion that Leo’s surprised has never given him a seizure. Quintessence completely changed the makeup of the planet, enhancing every city so much so that it’s as if every video game Leo wished he could live in throughout his childhood had manifested and taken over what was once just...Earth. He’s used to it by now, blurry streaks flitting by in the corner of his eye as he and Akira head to the rendezvous point to meet with Dante. 

The city has smelled like chemicals for years, but the soft material of Kira’s jacket reeks of its wearer a mixture of rust and sweat and an intense shock of vanilla. Akira spends too much time in the garage working on his bike for Leandro to be surprised that he’s adopted that auto body shop smell. But it suits him.

Akira leans his head back, his hair finally flying somewhere other than in Leo’s face.

“Around 07:30. The meeting starts at 08:00. It’s a good thing you didn’t do your hair this morning.” 

Leandro brings a hand up from Akira’s shoulder to poke his side in retaliation.

“Hey, I can get ready quick when I need to!” It’s a weak argument and he knows it. Akira’s been counting the amount of times Leandro has done his hair for fun despite them being in the middle of saving the world from anarchy. He always takes forever.

Even though he knows he’s fighting a losing battle on the hair situation, confidence gets the best of him and Leandro puts his head on Akira’s shoulder to tease him.

“Besides, there’s no point in doing my hair with the way you drive.”

Akira doesn’t react at first, his hands gripping the handles of the bike as normal and his gaze not breaking from the empty stretch of road ahead. Leandro’s almost satisfied with himself, until Akira slams on the brakes and Leo nearly goes flying. The half-galra-half-sexy-ass-boyfriend always wins, especially when proving his skill is on the line.

“Hey!” 

The older man’s laugh is so vibrant Leo can swear he feels it echo across the railings of the bridge that marks the halfway point between their home and their destination. He can never remember falling in love with Akira for the first time; he feels like it happens three times a week. Not that he’s complaining - Akira is the most spectacular figure Leandro could have ever encountered. It feels like it’s just luck that they’re soulmates, but he likes to entertain the idea of them being in love in a past life. It would just make sense in their case. Another reality where a different version of them came together? He can’t imagine anything more validating, except maybe the way Akira looks at him in the morning, his eyes a kaleidoscope from the rays of sunrise that seep in through the boarded up windows of their little corner of the city. Sometimes it makes him wish for more than a broken world for he and his lover to reside within. But when he’s gripping Akira’s jacket on the back of his bike, breathing in the familiar smell of the human he’s woken up next to every morning for the past three years, speeding among the lights of the city that change with every second, it’s hard to imagine he’d like to be anywhere else.

**Author's Note:**

> again, feedback is always welcome! if anyone wants to contribute/even co-write w me hit me up on my social media bc i have no clue what im doing!
> 
> twitter: hakay0  
> instagram & tumblr: goldyato


End file.
